1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to apparatuses for operating a device upon steering, and particularly, to an apparatus for operating a device upon steering for operating an onboard device equipped in a vehicle while gripping a steering wheel.
2. Related Art
In recent years, there are demands for safely operating onboard devices equipped in vehicles, such as navigation devices, audio devices, and air-conditioning devices, while driving vehicles. There has been proposed an apparatus for operating a device upon steering in which a device operating unit for operating an onboard device is disposed at the steering wheel.
Normally, in an apparatus for operating a device upon steering, the device operating unit is disposed in a spoke section located at the inner side of a gripping section of the steering wheel so as not to interfere with the driver who drives the vehicle by gripping the gripping section. However, depending on the position of the device operating unit, the driver may have to operate the device operating unit by releasing his/her hand from the gripping section. Thus, there is a demand for an apparatus for operating a device upon steering in which the device operating unit can be operated more safely.
For instance, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication (JP-A) No. 2014-211690 proposes a touch input apparatus as a technology for safely operating the device operating unit. In this touch input apparatus, a first detector is disposed in a range with which one of the thumbs of the driver comes into contact in a state where the driver is gripping the steering wheel of the vehicle with both hands, and a second detector is disposed in a range with which the other thumb comes into contact. By touching the detectors, an input is performed with respect to an onboard device. In this touch input apparatus, the detectors are disposed in the ranges with which the thumbs come into contact so that the detectors can be touched without having to remove the hands from the steering wheel, whereby the detectors can be safely operated.
However, in order to operate the detectors in the touch input apparatus according to JP-A No. 2014-211690, the driver has to check the positions of the detectors by temporarily shifting the line of vision to the detectors since it is difficult to haptically ascertain the positions of the detectors. Moreover, when operating the detectors, the driver moves the thumbs toward the spoke section and does not grip the gripping section at appropriate positions, possibly having an effect on the handling of the steering wheel.